A 25-year-old man concealed his criminal past to get a job in a Subway sandwich shop - and then stole at least £7,500 of the takings, a court heard today.

Richard Gilbert, of St George's Drive, Cheltenham, had committed a theft in 2015 but when he filled out an application form for the Subway job in Gloucester he said he had no criminal record.

Having been given the job by Subway franchisee Mario Bassi, Gilbert worked, often alone, at a branch of the sandwich chain in London Road, Gloucester - where he repeatedly stole from the till, said prosecutor Paul Ricketts.

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He confirmed to the judge that his current job does not involve handling money.

Mrs Jenkins said that at the time Gilbert got the Subway job he had been applying for a 'huge number of posts' and he got 'careless' about filling in forms. This had led to him not revealing his theft conviction to Mr Bassi.

"He was in a situation then when he was really struggling to get work - he wanted to be in a position where he could pay his way and make a financial contribution towards his child."

Gilbert admitted committing fraud to get his employment and theft from his employer.

Recorder Gilbert told him: "You were stealing from an individual you knew and who had given you employment and that is nasty and unpleasant. He had asked you whether you had any previous convictions and you told him no. That was the first step in your fraudulent behaviour.

"Then, because you were in need of money - which is not an excuse - you started stealing."

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The judge sentenced him to 8 months jail suspended for 18 months and ordered him to attend a 30 day programme requirement and do 40 hours unpaid work.

He ordered him to pay compensation of £5,200 to Mr Bassi at the rate of £50 a week.

"It is not the full amount because the courts do not like to make compensation orders which take more than two years to pay but it is still a lot more money than Mr Bassi would have got back if you had been sent to prison," he added.